Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Brief, two-hour power outages between Saturday and Monday [March 12-14] will conclude the construction and testing of Mississippi State's new power generation plant.
The university-wide "power-offs" beginning at midnight each day will be used to ensure that the generators automatically start up and assume campus power requirements whenever power is lost in the future.
A recently completed 26-megawatt gas turbine power plant near the substation on Blackjack Road is designed to provide emergency backup and allow peak cost shaving when Tennessee Valley Authority rates are high.
Earlier "power-off" periods have indicated that outages of up to two hours do not disrupt refrigerated units in campus research laboratories and that temporary generators are not required.
The March 12-14 schedules will include:
--An initial power outage of up to two hours;
--A return of power for at least two hours; and
--Another "power off" for 90 minutes or less.
During "power off" periods, moments of brief power restoration will enable testing of the plant's blackstart feature and permit adjustments as needed. If testing proceeds satisfactorily during the first two days, the third testing day may be unnecessary.
For more information on the weekend "power-offs," telephone Ralph Nobles at (662) 325-1859.